Who's Going To Uni?

[EvilScotsman]

2.29pm on the Friday before intro week starts, we have:

• no approved text to send out to incoming students (first year and direct entry second years)
• an unfinished Student Handbook
• Nothing set up for live streaming the induction events for students who haven't been able to travel yet (c.80% of students in the Department are from China)
• No guarantee that any of the technology will actually work, or that the lecture theatres will even be open; a recce on Wednesday found several locked, and the first two we got into had computers which wouldn't boot
• a completely dysfunctional registration process due to the arbitrary requirements of the Home Office*

This is largely because the Student Support side of things has been absolutely gutted over the past 18 months, with 3 people leaving (2 FT and 1 0.5 FTE) and 1 dying, with only of these roles being filled. From a starting team of 6 FTE we are down to 3.6; I've spent most of the summer doing exam-related stuff which isn't in my job description, as I've had to hold the hand of the person who's taken over the managerial position on an interim basis.

It's all going to go tits up next week, and guess which lucky person is in the student facing role to bear the brunt of it? Yep, this guy.

*If students arrive in the UK on or before the 18th October, we're not allowed to give them access to teaching resources until they've attended a face to face meeting to complete their registration. This means if someone arrives on 18th October and has to self-isolate for 10 days, they miss 4 weeks of teaching. If, however, they arrive on the 19th, they can complete their registration online (and thus be given access to teaching material) and attend a face to face meeting when they have arrived and completed any self-isolation.

Anyway, glad you guys seem to have chosen real universities to attend/be employed by.

[scottsdad]

How did it go in the end @EvilScotsman ?

[BFTD]

1 hour ago, scottsdad said:

How did it go in the end @EvilScotsman ?

Sideways and dry, by the sounds of it.

In an ideal world, he'd be able to print out that post and hand it to all the students when they rocked up to complain.

[EvilScotsman]

2 hours ago, scottsdad said:

How did it go in the end @EvilScotsman ?

[Melanius Mullarkey]

Two nieces now at Uni. One now in 2nd year at Edinburgh, one just joined Salford. Been on the piss since day 1.

So proud.

[welshbairn]

7 minutes ago, Melanius Mullarkey said:

Two nieces now at Uni. One now in 2nd year at Edinburgh, one just joined Salford. Been on the piss since day 1.

So proud.

They'll be phoning up their very favouritist Nuncle for a wee loan any day now..

[Melanius Mullarkey]

23 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

They'll be phoning up their very favouritist Nuncle for a wee loan any day now..

No fucking doubt.

[AUcal]

Really hope the coming year isn't too disrupted by covid for all the students that have juts started back. I spent all of covid times (my entire 4th year and tail end of 3rd year) doing classes in front of a laptop at home. It was shite. Felt like I wasn't learning anything at times as the whole set up was too different.

I'm pretty sure it was just as bad for lecturers as is was for students, no doubt they had an unprecedented number of panicked emails and such. If I had been paying, like some of my classmates from abroad were, it would have been just awful.

Have a couple of family members and friends that are just starting, and I really hope for their sake that there is some kind of normality. 1st year was class, helped me in a lot of ways.

[BFTD]

3 hours ago, AuAl said:

Really hope the coming year isn't too disrupted by covid for all the students that have juts started back. I spent all of covid times (my entire 4th year and tail end of 3rd year) doing classes in front of a laptop at home. It was shite. Felt like I wasn't learning anything at times as the whole set up was too different.

I'm pretty sure it was just as bad for lecturers as is was for students, no doubt they had an unprecedented number of panicked emails and such. If I had been paying, like some of my classmates from abroad were, it would have been just awful.

Have a couple of family members and friends that are just starting, and I really hope for their sake that there is some kind of normality. 1st year was class, helped me in a lot of ways.

A couple of my lecturers have mentioned that they had to get used to acting as agony aunts last year, answering emails about non-academic stuff in the early hours of the morning. One said she'd told a couple of young students to travel back home, f**k the rules, as they clearly weren't able to cope with being isolated and completely alone for the first time, and there was nothing course-wise that they wouldn't be able to do from their parents' house.

I think some folk dismiss the problems students have experienced as just moaning about not being able to go out clubbing, but it's clearly a lot more serious than that for some people.

[AUcal]

1 hour ago, BFTD said:

A couple of my lecturers have mentioned that they had to get used to acting as agony aunts last year, answering emails about non-academic stuff in the early hours of the morning. One said she'd told a couple of young students to travel back home, f**k the rules, as they clearly weren't able to cope with being isolated and completely alone for the first time, and there was nothing course-wise that they wouldn't be able to do from their parents' house.

I think some folk dismiss the problems students have experienced as just moaning about not being able to go out clubbing, but it's clearly a lot more serious than that for some people.

Aye my dissertation supervisor said the same, he had all sorts of emails at all hours from students who just couldn't cope.

I was lucky enough to be at home, but if I had moved a significant distance, to then be trapped in a tiny student flat, without classes or any kind of social interactions to get me through, I'm not sure I'd do too well either.

Know of a couple of people who, at the advice of lecturers, moved back down south or home to other countries if they could because of how bad it was getting. Can't say I blame them.

Hope normality returns soon for Universities.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

On 28/08/2021 at 18:58, johnnydun said:

Best of luck mate.

I start mine in October, I am quite excited about it and also a tad nervous, studying for the first time and a complete change in direction.

You started swotting up yet? Everyone loves a swotty swot.

[johnnydun]

8 hours ago, Melanius Mullarkey said:

You started swotting up yet? Everyone loves a swotty swot.

Not yet mate. Fucked with the Covid.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

2 hours ago, johnnydun said:

Not yet mate. Fucked with the Covid.

Oh dear. Get well soon

[scottsdad]

Turns out my system for attendance is a Mensa puzzle. 

My system is this - fill in a doddle poll showing when you are available to come to campus for a face to face tutorial. Then, each week I invite 50 lucky winners to come to campus. If your name is not on the list, you join the class online. 

This week: students have filled it in showing they are available, but cannot come as they are not even in the country. Other students thought the doodle poll was them booking a place and were coming every week. 

[EvilScotsman]

Our timetabling system has been down all day, so the only people (staff or students) who were able to tell where lectures were actually taking place were those who had synced their timetable with their University Google Calendars. Turns out that's not many.

[BFTD]

Absolute #scenes in Alloa, as a fat man is approved for fees, loan, a grant, and a bursary  

Between all of that and some part-time work...well, permit me to indulge in some GIFs:

Edit: alright, back to work.

Edited September 28, 2021 by BFTD

[Melanius Mullarkey]

11 minutes ago, BFTD said:

Absolute #scenes in Alloa, as a fat man is approved for fees, loan, a grant, and a bursary  

Between all of that and some part-time work...well, permit me to indulge in some GIFs:

Edit: alright, back to work.

^^^ didnt tick the "Are you a pervert" box on the form.

[BFTD]

3 hours ago, Melanius Mullarkey said:

^^^ didnt tick the "Are you a pervert" box on the form.

Think I'd have qualified for the secret Duke of York Award Scheme?

[Granny Danger]

3 hours ago, BFTD said:

Absolute #scenes in Alloa, as a fat man is approved for fees, loan, a grant, and a bursary  

Between all of that and some part-time work...well, permit me to indulge in some GIFs:

Edit: alright, back to work.

Well done you.  I’m sure you will have already said this, but what are you studying.

[BFTD]

2 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

Well done you.  I’m sure you will have already said this, but what are you studying.

Programming. Always fancied it when I was a wean, but could never get my head around it.

I might have timed it so that computers will all be programming themselves by the time I graduate, but then I can help John Connor to hack Skynet.